Sunday, January 19, 2014

A few weeks ago someone asked me what I thought about the race for the open seat on the Shelby County Commission in my area, District 3. I'm under no illusion that any endorsement I offer would, or even should, make much of a difference. But as someone who stays fairly involved in local politics, perhaps my perspective is at least beneficial to those who are concerned but don't have the time or inclination to follow things as closely as I do and would appreciate the insight.

At this moment, there are two declared candidates to replace Chris Thomas, a fantastic public servant who is stepping down to serve as city manager in Lakeland. The first candidate is David Reaves, who currently serves on the Shelby County School Board. The second candidate is Kelly Price, previously a candidate for Memphis City Council.

I've never met Price, but he comes with a couple of good recommendations by people I trust. It's not necessarily remarkable that I don't know him, although I would suggest it does say something about his previous political involvement in Bartlett and Lakeland, where it isn't hard to become at least somewhat familiar with every political activist nearby. And as the former president of the area's only Republican club, and the chairman of Bartlett's municipal school campaign over the last 2-3 years, I've certainly had more opportunity than most to become familiar with the people who run in those circles.

Reaves, meanwhile, is another story. I remember the campaign speech he gave to the NE Shelby Republican Club when he first ran for a seat on the Shelby County School Board. I don't recall if I voted for him then, but I at least appreciated his platform. I certainly supported him when the County Commission tried to unseat him shortly after election, as part of the unilateral consolidation of the school systems. And when we launched Better Bartlett Schools, he was there from the start, volunteered at every opportunity, and literally held signs for us on the street corner as the day of the (second) referendum arrived.

It would be one thing if Reaves were merely present during these pivotal times. That would have been enough to earn my appreciation, but it wasn't just that. He's been leading and serving. He's been offering visionary ideas, fighting hard in the trenches, performing admirably both in the spotlight and away from it, and accomplishing all this while making friends rather than enemies.

More significant is Reaves' humility and his willingness not only to hear from his constituents but also to seek it out and to initiate dialogue. That's incredibly rare, even at the local level.

So I endorse David Reaves for County Commission not because we agree 100% on every issue. In fact, I can think of three or four times off the top of my head where I didn't agree with his position, at least initially. But I've always trusted his principles and respected his thought process and willingness to hear out and understand alternative viewpoints. More than anything, I know he will continue to seek what is best for the community he serves, because that's the kind of guy he is.

Last summer during one of my philosophical journeys, I decided my test for political candidates would begin with this question: which one is currently the best public servant? There are plenty of people holding office who aren't serving the public at all, I reasoned, and any newcomer should be able to explain how they've already benefited the community.

With that question in mind, it's not even a contest; it's David Reaves by a mile.

Friday, January 3, 2014

If you're launching a bid for political office, building support for a cause, or heading up a marketing campaign for a club or organization, here are some web-based services that can help. Even better, they're all free.

These are the online tools I've found most helpful, even essential, for a variety of campaigns. You can find other alternatives in most cases, but these particular tools are reliable, easy to use, and can work in concert to meet your campaign goals.

1. Wordpress. Every campaign needs a home base on the web, a place you'll send people to get the big picture, see the latest news, and take steps to get more involved in your cause. Of all the options, I find blogging software the easiest to set up and maintain. And of all the blogging services, Wordpress has the most to offer. (Yes, you're reading this on Blogspot; this isn't a campaign.) I generally register my own domain name and use a custom Wordpress installation, but that takes some additional time and work, and you have to pay for both the domain name registration and the web server hosting. A free Wordpress.com blog is easier, and it costs you nothing. You can have a Wordpress.com website up in mere moments, and get started with a design template that's already built and ready to go. This is where you'll place all the links to and/or widgets from the other tools below.

2. Rally. There are other ways to raise money, collect payments online, etc., but Rally is a great tool for campaigns. One of the best features it offers is the ability to stay in touch with your followers and supporters. Rally will help you build a community around your cause and keep your most engaged advocates involved. People who donate to your campaign can also build their own Rally pages and start raising money and awareness for you. Word of mouth is your best friend, and the folks who already support your cause are the people most likely to spread the word; the people who have donated to your campaign are also the ones who are most likely to support it in the future. Keep in touch with them, and keep them happy, because they are your biggest asset. And more often than not in grassroots campaigns, they're also your customer.

3. Wufoo. This online form builder with a funny name is one of the most useful services online. Wufoo comes in handy any time you need to collect information from people. You can use it to build a mailing list, create a survey, generate a feedback page, or design any number of other forms. If you need to identify supporter interests, or allow volunteers to select from a list of available opportunities, you can easily build a form for that purpose in minutes. Wufoo can be customized to send your supporters an email receipt when they complete a form, and you can choose to receive a real-time email notification also. Wufoo integrates with other services, such as Paypal, so you can even use it to sell campaign materials. I use it most often in conjunction with the next service on the list.

4. Mailchimp. It still happens, but gone are the days when people needed to CC dozens of contacts in an email message, compromising their followers' privacy, getting their messages flagged as spam, and exposing themselves to 187 out-of-office messages, bounce-backs, and replies. Of all the mass email and contact management services, Mailchimp offers the most for free. You can create multiple lists and groups, allowing you to build customized messages shaped for different audiences, and you can compose a message in advance and schedule it to deliver at a preset time. Mailchimp can be synced with Wufoo, so your email subscription process is seamless.

5. Facebook Page. If you want to reach people, you have to go where they are. And for now at least, the best place to find people and get them plugged into your campaign is Facebook. You'll still occasionally see some personal accounts being misused as a campaign or brand, but you really need to start with a personal profile using your own name, then create a Facebook page for the campaign. Some campaigns may want to use a Facebook group instead, but if you are controlling the message, stick with a page. In most cases, your Facebook page is your most regular connection to your followers, and you'll use it to highlight your blog posts, link to your Rally page to raise money, post photos of your supporters at campaign stops, build your email list, call for volunteers, and market your events.

Bonus Tool #1. Eventbrite. For campaign events big and small, Eventbrite offers a way for your community to reserve seats or purchase tickets. You can even create a free custom subdomain like mycampaignkickoff.eventbrite.com. The system can be configured to send automated email reminders to your guests, and you can download a sign-in list or scan bar-codes as they arrive.

Bonus Tool #2. Google Calendar. There are plenty of calendar and task-list alternatives, but Google Calendar is easy to use, appointments and events can be grouped by color, all kinds of reminder alerts can be set, entries can be shared with other users as needed, and everything can be managed from a smartphone app. Good timing and organization are vital elements of an effective campaign, and Google Calendar will help you stay on target.